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The Rhubarb Triangle of Yorkshire Meets The Fashion House of Hermès Paris

Rhubarb by Robert Papp

Growing up in Leeds, West Yorkshire, the heart of “The
Rhubarb Triangle” (Nine square miles between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell,
originally much larger, covering nearly thirty square miles, including Leeds,
Bradford and Wakefield, when at its peak in 1939) how could I not adore rhubarb?

I was raised on these juicy, pink, bittersweet sticks!

Rhubarb

Yorkshire forced rhubarb;
Yorkshire leads the way!

My grandmother, Lily, had a massive rhubarb patch in her
English country garden, when we were but nippers, it was taller than us.

Grandmother Lily's
Home to enormous rhubarb patch

What fun we had, parading under the old apple tree, a
stick of rhubarb with its enormous frilly leaf, masquerading as an umbrella.

Beatrix Potter
The tale of Johnny Town- Mouse 1918

How delicious the crumbles, and, of course, rhubarb and
custard, chopped rhubarb stewed to a stringy pulp, served with acid-yellow Bird’s
custard.

Rhubarb Crumble

Rhubarb & Custard

Looking nothing like we were served up by my grandmother, Lily.
We had it just slopped in bowl with custard poured over.

Unfortunate, or should I say lazy people, used the insipid
tinned variety, goodness knows why, this was West Yorkshire, we were surrounded
by the stuff!

There was even rhubarb wine, Lily was an avid wine-maker,
potato, elderberry, blackberry, rhubarb, you name it, and she made it.

Lily Gaythorpe of Woodhall Hills
Avid wine-maker

You may be wondering where the prestigious, French house
of Hermès

comes into the story.

Think Hermès;

A life of luxury
Hermes

Paris fashion week.

Hermes
Paris Fashion Week 2016

Butter-soft,
supple leather.

Hermes Birkin Bag

Haute Couture.

Hermes Paris

Romantic weekends in the City of Light.

A world of luxury
and class.

Paris
City of Light

And then think rhubarb;

Fields fertilized with aromatic horse manure, or mungo
and shoddy ( waste from the wool mills).

Victoria Mill. Ossett (West Yorkshire)
Sorting Shoddy

The dark satanic mills of Bradford.

Dark Satanic Mills
Bradford
West Yorkshire

Low rhubarb sheds, heated by coal in winter, and later,
by diesel fuel.

The rhubarb harvest, picked by candlelight, (Exposure to
strong sunlight; rare in West Yorkshire, halted all growth).

Where on Earth is the connection between The House of Hermès and good old Yorkshire rhubarb?

Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather, or,
as we say in Yorkshire, when confronted by something astonishing; “I’ll go t’foot
of our stairs”, when I came across a rhubarb scent!

Yes, really, rhubarb scent, not any old rhubarb scent,
but a scent created by the famous “Noses” of the House of Hermès, Paris.

The blurb on their website says;

"I’ve always loved the duality of
rhubarb. A double duality: visual and olfactory. The green colour metamorphoses
into red. Starting acidic and crisp, its smell becomes smooth and velvety.”

Christine Nagel

With Hermes Eau de rhubarbe ecarlate, Christine Nagel has
created her first Cologne for Hermès. Unprecedented and bold, more vegetal than
citrus, it gives us the crisp, acidic freshness of rhubarb made velvet smooth
with white musks.

Hermes
Eau de rhubarbe ecarlate

I have to wonder, has Mr. Hermès ever visited the rhubarb
triangle of West Yorkshire?

Does he realize just what he is associating himself with?

There's something just a bit comical about rhubarb, okra, or, lady's finger's, bamias in Greek, have the same connotation, a suggestion of ridiculousness, it's quite common to hear Greek children calling each other "Bamia", in place of stupid or idiot!Rhubarb is something I would never mention in the same breath as Hermès.I have spotted though, rhubarb creme brulee, and rhubarb macarons with custard buttercream and roasted rhubarb, how posh is that?Rhubarb seems to be on its way up the social ladder.So you never know, Mr. Hermès, may be way ahead in his thinking!

Rhubarb & Custard Macarons

Eau de rhubarb, goodness, even the name makes me laugh, was launched earlier this year, 2016, so, it's early days yet, but, I'm very curious to see if it will be popular!

Hermes Eau de rhubarbe ecarlate

From the chic French salons of Paris, to a wild, windy and wet West Yorkshire, Hermès and Rhubarb are light years apart, or are they?Time will tell.

Wet, chilly West Yorkshire

Anyway, as I have been living in hot, sunny Greece for
the past thirty odd years, I can’t remember the last time I ate rhubarb, which
needs a cold, wet climate to thrive, West Yorkshire is perfect!

I often think of rhubarb, I can hardly remember the taste;
it’s been so long, oh, how I adored it.

All my problems are solved, I shall purchase a bottle of Hermes Eau De Rhubarbe Ecarlate, douse myself in it, the memories are bound to come flooding back!